The Rise of the Nazi Party

By Hermione078

  • The end of the First World War

    WW1 ended with a terrible 37 million casualties. The leaders responsible blamed the loss on its leftwing politicians, Communists, and Jews. The German propaganda also had not prepared the German people for defeat, which resulted in a sense of injured German pride. When the new government the Weimar Republic tried to establish a democracy in the place of their leader Kaiser, extreme political parties from left and right struggled violently for control.

  • German Workers Party

    Hitler was not a soldier anymore but continued to work for the military as a spy. When monitoring the activities of the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiter Partei- DAP) he liked the anti-Semitic, nationalist and anti-Marxist ideas of the party. The leaders of the party were impressed by Hitler's incredible oratory skills and asked him to join them. Later he would become leader, and change the name of the Party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi for short.

  • Treaty of Versailles

    The Treaty of Versailles was a source of great shame for many Germans. The Allies punished Germany very severely, and they were forced to take the blame for causing WW1 in the war guilt clause. Germany lost an abundance of its territory, including areas with resources that would help pay the 6.6 billion euros in reparations, and also to help rebuild their economy. Their military was reduced to 100 000 men, and Hilter was not one of them.

  • Beer Hall Putsch

    On November 8, 1923, Hitler and his followers staged a failed overthrow of the government in Bavaria. Hitler had wanted to seize power of the Bavarian state government, and then hopefully launch a revolution of the Weimar Republic (a government that Hitler was against). This event was known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler was then accused of high treason and awaited trial.

  • Hitler goes to jail

    Hitler's failed attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government led to him being charged and convicted of high treason. However, Hilter used his public trial as a form of propaganda and used this platform to rant against the Weimar Republic for hours. At the end of his trial, Hitler had gained support for his courage to act, and the sympathetic right-wing judges who were presiding over his case sentenced him to only 5 years in prison with parole. He was released after only one year.

  • Mein Kampf

    While in prison Hilter wrote his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in which he highlights his radical ideas of German Nationalism. The book explained his ideas of German nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-Bolshevism and Social Darwinism. After he was released from prison, Hitler resurrected the Nazi Party and waited for an opportune moment to seize control. Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and became a basis of many of the ideologies of the Nazi Party.

  • Hitler gets out of prison

    After Hitler is released from prison, he formally brings back the Nazi Party. He began to rebuild and reorganise it and waiting for an opportune moment to seize control of Germany. Paul von Hinderburg the military hero was elected president, and Germany stabilised. Hitler manoeuvred party politics skillfully and ended up at the top as the sole leader of the Nazi Party which began gaining momentum, and from the 27,000 members in 1925, they had gained 108,000 by 1929.

  • The Great Depression

    The Great Depression was an extremely hard time for Germany. After the stock market crashed, and America wanted the money they had loaned to Germany to help pay off their debt back. Germany's economy also collapsed, and the number of unemployed grew to almost 5.5 million people. Von Hindenburg invoked emergency presidential powers and made up a new government made of a chancellor and cabinet investors. That year the Nazi's were the second-largest party in the Reichstag.

  • Hitler becomes Fuhrer

    The Nazi Party won the election in 1932 with 37% of the vote after which Hitler decided to run for president. Hitler came second, with Hindenburg winning the election, but since he was the leader of the largest party in the Reichstag, he demanded to be made chancellor. He was made chancellor in 1933, and while Hindenburg thought he could control Hitler, he was unable to, leading to his total domination of Germany after Hinderburg's death.